Ask HN: How do you de-clutter your mind?

I've had a stressful couple of months. Someone recently posted the Box Breathing method. It is the one thing that has consistently worked for all things stress and distraction related. I am not sure if this is what you are looking for, but it is worth giving it a few tries before dismissing it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13508038

Slow your mind down.

I meditate, or sometimes listen to music 800% slower, so a song takes 30 to 40 minutes, I guess this is a meditation of sorts too..

When I start to meditate, the hardest part is about 3-4 minutes in, when some impatient part of my mind says "Hurry up this is a waste of time" - don't try and prevent this through self dialog, just let it pass, then the rest is a gradual unfolding / de-cluttering

I do this video every night to un-wind my brain so I can sleep, only takes 3 minutes, works like a charm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0meWkcH8Ow

I think this is part of David Allen's rationale behind the "Getting Things Done" book/methodology. If you've organized your to-do list in even a rudimentary fashion, that takes some of the cognitive load away.

Meditate and swim https://hkelkar.com/2017/05/29/why-i-love-to-swim/

Chanting and self-reflection on myself, my environment and my purpose in life: http://www.sgi.org/

I've also read more, breathe deeper and focus on other lighter things in life. Just enjoy the moment.

I find that watching some rubbishy film (eg, shoot-em-up, adventure, James Bond, western,...) de-clutters my mind, and lets me sleep well, or focus on a tricky topic if required.

This is an interesting approach

https://www.rosieleizrowice.com/blog/5minutejournal

Aimless walks and meditation.